New Pentax 17-70mm F/4AL[IF] SDM!!!

[ukcatfan]

I have been waiting for this lens! It is not likely to be really cheap, but it is NOT a DA* though, so it should not be outrageous. I am pretty sure this is the first SDM lens that is not a DA*. I think this is the best walkaround range for my style. Hopefully it will be in my price range.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0806/08060301pentax17-70sdm.asp

Kevin

 

[Dcanoli]

Sounds like a great lens, and I'm excited to see it is compatible w/my humble 100D.

But, would you use it more than your kit lens @ 18-55? I'm assuming it's a much better lens, after reading the review.

 

[ukcatfan]

Sounds like a great lens, and I'm excited to see it is compatible w/my humble 100D.

But, would you use it more than your kit lens @ 18-55? I'm assuming it's a much better lens, after reading the review.

I often want just that little bit more focal length, but do not feel like changing the lens to the 50-200mm, so I just end up cropping later.

 

[Gdad]

What is DA*?

 

[Dcanoli]

I often want just that little bit more focal length, but do not feel like changing the lens to the 50-200mm, so I just end up cropping later.

I agree completely with you on this one. Sometimes, you zoom and zoom and oops! You are done.....

Not sure what they'll charge for it though...will be interesting to watch and see.

Now, what I'd like to see is the 10-17mm brought down an affordable price....

If I'm going down to 17, I'd like the option to keep doing wider and getting the fisheye to boot!

 

[handicap18]

Nice focal range and f/4 thoughout. Excellent. I would think it would be reasonably priced. Probably lower than the f/2.8 18-55's or 28-70's. This certainly would be an excellent walk-around/general purpose lens and the next best thing the the f/2.8 and I would also think better than the standard kit lenses. Looks like a winner for Pentax users.

 

[ukcatfan]

What is DA*?

Think white lens for a Canon.

 

[WVDisGeek]

Great! Another lens I have to add to my list of "envy"!

I too will be interested to see what the street price is when they finally hit the market.

 

[gokenin]

I have to say that this would have interested me at one time but have recently been bitten by the prime bug and find that i have not used a zoom lens in a few months now. I have to admit it does make my planning a little harder for disney but still have some time to think

 

[Groucho]

It's a nice focal length but the retail price is a little steep - $600 from what I've seen (though street price should be a bit lower soon after release)... and apparently this one is a break from previous SDM-focusing lenses... and will only autofocus on bodies that support SDM focusing. Read: K10D, K100D Super, K200D, K200D Super.

It will still work on older cameras, but not autofocus. I guess it's kind of the opposite problem at the Nikon D40/D60s.

I think the lens is probably an update to the 16-45mm F4 lens that's available now (and well-loved as a reasonably fast and affordable kit lens replacement.)

Gdad: DA = a designed-for-digital lens - usually meaning designed for an APS sensor, though some are older film designs with updated tweaks, so they'd work fine on a FF body. The * (actually a star, not an asterisk) means that it's a high-end lens, and it may mean weathersealing. Currently, there are only two DA* lenses available (the 16-50mm F2.8 that I want, and the 50-135mm F2.8 that I have), and both are weathersealed. There are some other ones in the pipeline. So far, they have also been all zooms. High-end primes (like my 31mm F1.8) are Limiteds, and while my 50-135mm is built very nicely, the 31mm F1.8 is a whole order of magnitude different - more like a Leica lens or some other exotic. To further confuse the matter, there are six Limited primes - the older three are "film" lenses, the newer three are "digital" lenses and pancakes. Each has one wide, one medium, and one telephoto.

These camera manufacturers just love their alphabet soup arcana.

 

[gokenin]

It's a nice focal length but the retail price is a little steep - $600 from what I've seen (though street price should be a bit lower soon after release)... and apparently this one is a break from previous SDM-focusing lenses... and will only autofocus on bodies that support SDM focusing. Read: K10D, K100D Super, K200D, K200D Super.
Remebers complaining about this upcoming trend back in a topic about when a camera becomes obsolete. doesnt know too many people these days that prefer manual focusing. ahh well all the k100d and *ist people will have to suffer or upgrade

 

[Dcanoli]

It's a nice focal length but the retail price is a little steep - $600 from what I've seen (though street price should be a bit lower soon after release)... and apparently this one is a break from previous SDM-focusing lenses... and will only autofocus on bodies that support SDM focusing. Read: K10D, K100D Super, K200D, K200D Super.
Remebers complaining about this upcoming trend back in a topic about when a camera becomes obsolete. doesnt know too many people these days that prefer manual focusing. ahh well all the k100d and *ist people will have to suffer or upgrade

I don't understand this quote at all....

 

[gokenin]

there was a thread a while back that asked when you upgrade your camera or when it becomes obsolete. I made a comment that pentax was shifting away from in body focus and moving to a lens based autofocus and that this made the K100d and the *ist SLRs obsolete since they would not be able to use the new lenses to there fullest. The comment i was refering to was made that i was wrong and that pentax has no inclination to make a lens that was HSM only focusing. I apologize for hijacking the thread

 

[ukcatfan]

I really won't matter for me. By the time I convince my DW that I need a $600 lens that covers a range I already have covered, I would have broken her enough to believe that I need a new body as well. She will just call me lazy and tell me to stop my fussing and just change the lens to the 50-200mm when I need more range!

I am glad that Pentax is offering things like this though b/c it will make more people interested in the brand.

 

[Groucho]

there was a thread a while back that asked when you upgrade your camera or when it becomes obsolete. I made a comment that pentax was shifting away from in body focus and moving to a lens based autofocus and that this made the K100d and the *ist SLRs obsolete since they would not be able to use the new lenses to there fullest. The comment i was refering to was made that i was wrong and that pentax has no inclination to make a lens that was HSM only focusing. I apologize for hijacking the thread

Ouch, sounds like you're calling me out.

Yes, I said that Pentax would put both in. At the time, the available SDM lenses all had the traditional screw-drive AF as well. (I believe I pointed out that my 50-135mm will SDM AF on my K20D and screw-drive AF on my wife's K100D.) They apparently changed their stance.

I don't think they'll go the D40 route any time soon and start removing the focus motor from the body.

And whether or not it makes the old cameras obsolete... I dunno. We're talking a single lens now, though there will certainly be more. But not all lenses will have SDM, I suspect it will be the higher-end ones for a while at least. The 17-70mm is not a "Star" or "Limited" lens but neither is it a "cheap" lens!

Switching gears again, I have to correct something I wrote earlier in the thread - there is a DA* prime lens in the pipeline, the upcoming DA* 55mm F1.4 - which will almost certainly be SDM focusing, probably lack screw-drive AF based on the 17-70mm specs, and will probably be weathersealed.

 

[gokenin]

just bustin you Groucho after that thread came out I actually bought a slightly used K200 off a memeber on the pentax forums so if I wanted to I could get the HSM and weathersealed lenses that are in the pipeline. Just having too much fun with the old Takumars and the manual primes lately to worry about the latest zooms

 

[Groucho]

No problem, good to see your lens list ever-expanding in your siggy. I wouldn't mind one of those 85mm lenses one of these days (would love the 85mm F1.4 but those are fetching a king's ransom)! And I still like sometimes using my $25 eBay-special beat-up 135mm F3.5 M42 that still takes lovely shots and has just about the silkiest manual focus ever.

If I were you, I might have kept my eyes out for a used K10D rather than K200D - the larger pentaprism viewfinder really makes a big difference when manually focusing. I find it a lot easier than on my K100D (which was not that bad, really.) This was handy last WDW trip as I did use my 105mm macro a good amount, that lens is amazingly sharp and the bokeh is fabulous.